RCHS students take an instrumental trip to UNC
RCHS senior, Ryan McGavin, attended the 2011 Western States Honor Orchestra Festival last month in Greeley.
RCHS junior, Nikki Pataroque, pictured right, shortly after the concert at UNC, attended the WHSOF for her second year in a row as a violinist.
Article by Kathy Dunker with photos courtesy of the McGavin and Pataroque families
Rock Canyon High School (RCHS) is proud to have two students, Ryan McGavin and Dominique (Nikki) Pataroque, who were chosen to attend the 2011 Western States Honor Orchestra Festival (WHSOF) at University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley from November 3 to 5. This was the 28th Annual Weekend for Strings in which high school students throughout the western region were selected by audition only in early September.
The festival featured guest artist Jeffrey Turner, Principal Bassist for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor, Johan Jonsson, Professor of Violin at Montana State University. While RCHS junior and violinist, Pataroque, was in her second year attending the WHSOF, RCHS senior, McGavin, who plays upright string bass, attended for his first time and was also asked to play in the Master Class with guest artist, Turner.
McGavin learned to play the bass in fifth grade while living in Winfield, Kansas. Since moving to Colorado in 2006, McGavin played for the orchestra in eighth grade at Rocky Heights Middle School (RHMS) and is in his fourth year of playing for the RCHS orchestra as well as the school’s jazz band. McGavin also performs with the Denver Young Artists Orchestra (DYAO) and takes private lessons weekly from Ben Greene, principal bassist for the Arapahoe Philharmonic. A true musician, McGavin also enjoys playing the piano just for fun.
McGavin is in the process of filling out college applications and hopes to major in music with an emphasis on performance and teaching. UNC is one of the school’s of choice for McGavin which makes it additionally exciting to be attending the WHSOF this year. As McGavin commented, “When I received the results, I was excited and satisfied that all of the hours spent practicing had paid off!”
While in Greeley, Pataroque and McGavin spent most of their time practicing with other musicians and watching others in master’s classes, which is similar to a private lesson with professors from the university. Pataroque remarked about the experience, “What I enjoyed the most was meeting the people there and playing music with people who were so passionate about it!”
RCHS Orchestra Director, Alyssa McCollum, remarked, “Both Ryan and Dominique are great, hard working students who deserved the honor of playing at Western States. Their time spent working on their craft as musicians is evident through their acceptance into Western States and their work in the Chamber Orchestra at Rock Canyon.”
